1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to communication systems and components. More particularly, the present invention is directed to antennas for wireless networks.
2. Description of the Prior Art and Related Background Information
Due to the need for increased capacity in wireless networks, 6 sector solutions are becoming increasingly more popular today. A 6 sector solution for a cellular site roughly doubles the capacity over a 3 sector site. Narrow beam antennas, having beamwidths anywhere from 28 to 45 degrees, are used today for 6 sector applications. These antennas can be divided in 2 types, single beams pointing in the mechanical boresight, or a multibeam/splitbeam type pointing at different angles.
Current split beam technology today typically uses 4 column arrays with about 0.5 wavelength column spacing. The feed network typically uses a 4 way butler matrix. The 2 beams have about 28 to 30 degrees horizontal beamwidth. While these antennas can be popular at AWS, PCS, UMTS 2100 bands, they are not popular for 700 MHz LTE (“Long Term Evolution”) and 790 MHz Digital Dividend (“DD”), because of their physical sizes. To cover the 968-894 MHz band, a 4 column array will make the antenna about 30 inches wide, so zoning approval can be an issue for many sites.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide an antenna having a limited total physical width.